Kennard Memorial Horse Meet: KMTC President Dennis Deoroop delighted with record entries

President of the Kennard Memorial Turf Club (KMTC), Dennis Deoroop, has said he was delighted to see the record number of entries for the races run during last Sunday’s meet at Bush Lot Farm, Corentyne, Berbice, especially the entries involving locally-bred horses.

In an exclusive interview with Guyana Times Sport, Deoroop also noted that the two-year-old horses would in future be running for a million-dollar prize.
“As President of the Kennard Memorial Turf Club, and on behalf of the directors, I want to thank all the fans that came out. We had a record number of entries, especially in the lower classes of horses.
“We had 14 horses entered for the two-year-old race, and 23 horses for the first-time starters. That has shown that the local breeding is still alive, and people are interested in the sport and (are) hungry for racing,” he declared.
“Soon we will be pushing for legislation, so hopefully we will have legislation in place. We have introduced ‘forecast betting’, which is the way forward. That will be the only betting after legislation. All hand bets will be eliminated. I saw it on Sunday, and it was very successful, and hopefully we can expand,” Deoroop said.
Deoroop was in full praise of the owners of the local horses, for keeping their animals up to standard despite the absence of racing during the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had a wonderful event (on Sunday). (It was) very well supported, especially from the local horses. I want to thank all those local trainers and owners. They have stuck (it out) for two and a half years, since we had no races during the COVID-19 time; but because (and) for the love of the sport, they have stuck to it and kept feeding the horses and keeping them, and that is an extreme task. But because (and) for the love of the sport, the amount of money they spent during those years, the horses can never earn them back again. I want to give my heartfelt thanks to the owners,” he said.
Deoroop added: “From the administrative side of horse racing in Guyana, we would put a lot more in the local horses to give them more opportunities. The two-year-old horses will run for a first prize of one million dollars before the year is out. So, we want to encourage those local horses.”
The next race meet to be held in Guyana is the President’s Cup, set for September 18 at the Rising Sun Turf Club in Region Five. Another race will be held on October 23 at the Kennard Memorial Turf Club, and the traditional Boxing Day race will be held on December 26 at the same venue in Bush Lot Farm. (Brandon Corlette)